Criqui v. Blaw-Knox Corp.
Criqui v. Blaw-Knox Corp.
Opinion of the Court
This appeal involves the right of a wife, under the law of Kansas, to recover damages from a third party tort-feasor for loss of consortium, resulting from personal injuries sustained by her husband through the alleged negligence of such third party.
Only a brief statement of facts is necessary to clearly point up the issue. Clarence Criqui, husband of appellant, was employed by the appellee, Harrison Construction Company, a sub-contractor on a missile base site, and he suffered personal injuries during the course of his employment.
It is agreed that, the question presented being one of substantive law and the injury having occurred in Kansas, we are bound by the law of Kansas.
In the absence of such a statute or decision by the highest court in the state, a federal court must nevertheless ascertain from all the available sources what the law of that state is and apply it.
Where there is a conflict in the decisions of the state courts of our country, the federal court construing the law of the state in question, will assume that the courts of that state will follow the weight of authority.
. It is agreed by the parties, and an examination of the cases confirms, that there is a conflict in the authorities on the question of a wife’s right to recover for loss of consortium resulting from a negligent injury to her husband. The majority rule is that the wife does not have such a right of action but there is respectable authority to the contrary.
The general law of Kansas does give some help on the problem before us. As argued by appellant, that state, under the common law, for many years permitted a husband, in a separate action, to recover damages for loss of consortium and services, resulting from personal injury to his wife.
It is true that the Kansas statutes expressly give to women, even while married, the right to sue and be sued.
Both the appellees and the trial court place some reliance on the recent case of Hoffman v. Dautel, 189 Kan. 165, 368 P.2d 57 (1962),
“While courts should be ever alert to widen the circle of justice, at the same time they should proceed with caution in laying down a new rule in the light of conditions affected or to be affected by it. If this court were to conclude that a cause of action is here alleged, the far-reaching results of such a decision would be readily apparent. A new field of litigation would thus arise between minor children and third party tortfeasors who injure either parent when it is alleged that the negligent injury contributed to the impairment or destruction of the happy family unit with resulting loss and damage to the minor children. The possibility of multiplicity of actions based upon a single tort and one physical injury, when there is added the double-recovery aspect of such a situation in the absence of some statutory control, is deemed sufficient to prevent this court from answering in the affirmative that a cause of action has been alleged. * * * ” (368 P.2d at 59, 60)
The reasons given in that ease, i. e., multiplicity of actions based upon a single tort and the possibility of double recovery, are the very reasons advanced by many courts in support of the majority rule denying the wife a cause of action for loss of consortium. In view of the language in the Hoffman case and in view of the majority rule, we do not believe that this court should lay down a new rule of substantive law in Kansas allowing recovery in the type of action involved here, and, thus, open up a “new field of litigation” in that state. We, of course, recognize that the modern trend does appear to favor the appellant’s position and that the Supreme Court of Kansas, in the absence of statutory prohibitions, may some day lay down such a rule. Nevertheless, that decision should come in the first instance from the Kansas Court and not from this court.
Moreover, to our knowledge, this is the first case, on an appellate level, in the more than one hundred years of Kansas judicial history, in which a wife has sought relief for this kind of an alleged wrong. That fact is a strong indication that during all of those years it has been the accepted law of the state that no such cause of action existed.
Affirmed.
. It is undisputed that Clarence Criqui has received an award under the Kansas Workmen’s Compensation Act for such injuries. In view of our decision, it is not necessary to decide whether such an award is a bar to recovery for loss of consortium.
. Criqui v. Blaw-Knox Company, 208 F.Supp. 605 (D.Kan. 1962).
. Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188; Albina Engine & Machine Works, Inc. v. Abel, 10 Cir., 305 F.2d 77; Askin v. Dalgarno, 10 Cir., 893 F.2d 424; Hardware Dealers Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Smart, 10 Cir., 293 F.2d 558.
. West v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 311 U.S. 223, 61 S.Ct. 179, 85 L.Ed. 139; Werthan Bag Corp. v. Agnew, 6 Cir., 202 F.2d 119.
. Werthan Bag Corp. v. Agnew, supra.
. United States v. Jones, 10 Cir., 229 F.2d 84, 58 A.L.R.2d 778, cert. denied, 351 U.S. 939, 76 S.Ct. 835, 100 L.Ed. 1466.
. Dallison v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 10 Cir., 313 F.2d 343, 347, and cases therein cited.
. The cases supporting both the majority and minority rule are collected in 27 Am. Jur., Husband and Wife, § 514, p.p. 114-115; 41 C.J.S. Husband and Wife § 404, p.p. 900-901; Annot., 23 A.L.R.2d 1378-1397, and supplements thereto. See, also, the recent cases of Seagraves v. Legg, W.Va., 127 S.E.2d 605 (following majority rule) and Stenta v. Leblang, Del., 185 A.2d 759; Novak v. Kansas City Transit, Inc., Mo., 365 S.W.2d 539 (following minority rule).
. See, e. g., Tippman, The Breakdown of Consortium, 30 Colum.L.Rev. 651; 64 Har.L.Rev. 672; Holbrook, The Change in the Meaning of Consortium, 22 Mich. L.Rev. 1.
. City of Wyandotte v. Agan, 37 Kan. 528, 15 P. 529; Atchison, T. & S. F. R. Co. v. McGinnis, 46 Kan. 109, 26 P. 453; Southern Kansas Ry. Co. v. Pavey, 57 Kan. 521, 46 P. 969.
. Mewhirter v. Hatten, 42 Iowa 280, 20 Am.Rep. 618; 27 Am.Jur., Husband and Wife, § 502, p.p. 101-102.
. Kan.G.S.1949, 23-205.
. Taylor v. S. H. Kress & Co., 136 Kan. 155, 12 P.2d 808; Foster v. Kopp, 151 Kan. 650, 100 P.2d 660.
. Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Callahan, 10 Cir., 127 F.2d 32.
. White v. Toombs, 162 Kan. 585, 178 P.2d 206.
. Kan.G.S.1949, 23-203.
. See Hitaffer v. Argonne Co., 87 U.S.App.D.C. 57, 183 F.2d 811, 23 A.L.R.2d 1366, cert. denied, 340 U.S. 852, 71 S.Ct. 80, 95 L.Ed. 624; Acuff v. Schmit, 248 Iowa 272, 78 N.W.2d 480.
. See cases cited in authorities set forth in footnote 8 supporting majority rule.
. Noted and discussed in 1 Washburn L.J. 610; 11 Kan.L.Rev. 186.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Mrs. Clarence CRIQUI v. BLAW-KNOX CORPORATION, a corporation, Harrison Construction Company, a corporation, and Fischbach and Moore, Incorporated, a corporation
- Cited By
- 12 cases
- Status
- Published